The Dumb Pop Psychology About Engagement Rings Needs To Stop

Want to know the real reason why some guys spend more on engagement rings and others spend less?

Well, tough Keebler cookies!

The reasons behind engagement ring purchases (as with every major life purchase) form a vast, individualistic undulating ocean of who gives a crap. But that won’t stop some people from desperately clawing for The Simple Answer. Why? Why do some women get bigger rocks? Your face just melted from the sheer anticipation of it all. If only you knew!

The most recent example of engagement ring pop stats comes from a syndicated post on Business Insider, which promises to answer “What Determines How Much A Man Will Pay To Put A Ring On It.” (Cute.) It points to data and argues “the more money a guy makes and the younger the bride, the more he spends on an engagement ring.” Correlation versus causation obviously didn’t make it into the editorial discussion behind this particular headline.

But wait! Conflicting data! There’s another report (which we found at Female First UK) that shows “even girls who have hooked an above average earner aren’t likely to be sporting a much bigger rock.” There are so many things wrong with that sentence I don’t know where to begin. And, as the piece points out, it’s “likely to come as a bitter disappointment to dewy-eyed-brides-to-be across the country none of the men questioned [in the study] has invested a full three months’ earnings.” BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT.

Why do some people spend piles of money on engagement rings? Why do some people keep referring to Priscilla Chan’s $25,000 engagement ring as “simple?” Probably due to, I dunno, differing values, familial obligations and financial priorit…zzzzzzz. Yep, that would make a terrible headline. No wonder we never hear about it.

TAGS: why some people spend more on engagment rings

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